The telecommunications gear maker said Wednesday that net income for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 was $174 million, or 4 cents per share. That matched the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

In the year-ago quarter, Lucent posted net income of $374 million, or 7 cents per share.

Revenues totaled $2.34 billion, up 3 percent from $2.26 billion a year earlier. U.S. revenues were up 7 percent, to $1.45 billion, but overseas revenues dipped slightly to $885 million.

Operating income for Lucent’s wireless division jumped about 150 percent, to $390 million from $158 million a year ago. But operating income for its network services — or wireline — division dropped nearly 90 percent, to $23 million from $210 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2004.

“While the wireline market remains a challenge in the near term, we continue to execute on a long-term strategy of investing in areas that are critical to our vision of convergence,” Lucent Chief Executive Officer Pat Russo said in a prepared statement.

She said those key areas include next-generation optical equipment, mobile-high-speed data, broadband access, voice over Internet protocol, government and emerging markets, and services.